Improvement in shaft-protectors



, PATENT EEIcE.

AHIRA S. PORTER, OF NORTH BRIDGEWATER, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN SHAFT-PROTECTORS.

Specification forming part of Leiters Patent No. 116,486, dated June 27, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Bc it known that I, AHIRA S. PORTER, of North Bridgewater, in the county of Plymouth and Sta-te of Massachusetts, have invented an Improved Shaft-Protector; and I do hereby de` clare that the following, taken in connection with the drawing which accompanies and forms part of this specification, is a description of my invention sufhcient to enable those skilled in the art to practice it.

In stables, carriage repositories, and other places Where carriages are collected, and where they have to be closely run together to economize space, the hind axle of one carriage is run over the shafts of another to bring the two bodies snugly together. The result of this often is that the axle comes into contact with the shafts over which it runs, scraping and mai-ring the paint p thereof.

To remedy this I provide elastic cushions, preferably made of caoutchouc compound, and formed to embrace the shafts, such cushions whenV appliedreceiving the contact of the axle and thereby shielding the shafts from defacement. The

" that the axle shall strike the cushion and not the shaft. It is in such a shaft-protecting cushion or shield that my invention consists.

The drawing represents a portion of a shaft having one of my shields applied thereto. A shows the shaft and shield in side elevation. B

' is a sectional elevation of them. C is a crosssection of the shaft, showing the shield in end view.

a denotes the shaft, and b the elastic cushion or shield. The shield, preferably made of caout chouc compound, is formed semi-tubular or with two lips or jaws, c d, the inner surfaces of which iit upon the shaft, as seen at O, andby their elasticity embrace the shaft. The upper part of the shield is made thicker than the jaws, and is shown with an increasing thickness from its front to its rear end, as seen at A and B.

When the carriage is placed in the stable, carriage-house, or wareroom, or when another carriage is to be backed over its shafts, one of the cushions or shields is pressed down upon the upper part of each shaft at the height of the hind axle of the carriage to be backed over the shafts, and its jaws will embrace or take hold of the shaft surfaces and hold the shield in place. When the axle reaches the shields it strikes each of them at some point along the incline, and is thereby arrested and kept from contact with the shaft. Between the jaws the shield may be made with a groove, c, to receive or cover the heads of bolts 

